


Moondust

by Flying_dandelions



Category: Girl Meets World
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-16
Updated: 2018-06-13
Packaged: 2018-07-24 07:54:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,296
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7500231
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Flying_dandelions/pseuds/Flying_dandelions
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Maya Hart had it all: an art gallery opening, an amazing boyfriend and a perfect studio apartment over looking Central Park.<br/>But when she wakes up from surviving a car accident she soon finds that  six years have gone by since the life she remembers in New York City.<br/>Not only does she wake up to a six year hole in her life but also she finds that Lucas Friar, her best friend's soulmate, is wearing a matching gold band on a certain finger that matches the one on her own.</p><p>(Kinda of a Vow AU)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Fiction Is Only Fun For So Long

Growing up, Maya Hart walked past Riley’s favorite motivational poster that read: “Every sunrise brings a new day and new way to live life.” She passed it everyday of every month of every year and never once believed that in the 12 hours where the moon took the place of the sun that everything could change, that a person could wake up to a different life.

Funny how fate works.

_July 15th 2026_

Riley Matthews had thought up a lot of fantasy worlds when they were younger. Where the perfect princess always met the dashing prince, where everyone ate candy until their tongues were permanently stained rainbow and where the bay window was as infinite as the universe above its curtains.

But this world, she’d just dreamed up was her craziest yet.

As a child Maya was willing to play along for Riley’s sake, but what Riley has just told her minutes ago it’s pure delusion, bat shit crazy, and way to scary to have been imagined in Riley’s sunshiny brain.

It is not 2026, she is not in the hospital with hundreds of x-rays wallpapering her room, she was not in a car accident that wiped her memory of the past six years like an eraser on a dry erase board.

It _has to be_ 2020\. She _has to be_ in the art studio with blotches of paint splashed across random parts of her body, _she has to be_ in perfect health, memories fresh as dewdrops on a daisy.

The doctors fall in line with Riley’s story, they even endorse it. Then the newspapers turn on her too each day 2026 typed in bold letters on the top of the colum. Even Farkle her most logical and sensible friend, silently shakes his head when she begs him to tell her this is all some sort of sick mistake.

She decides to give everyone the silent treatment until they stop playing pretend and let her go back to her wonderful life in 2020.

It’s the third day of the miserable fake alternate universe Riley had created when the entire pack of doctors and Matthews Clan step into her cramped hospital with information to spill at the tips of their tongues. And judging by the way Riley was gnawing at her luscious lips between her teeth meant that it wasn’t the good kind.

“Listen Maya, I know that this is an impossible thing to accept. But if you continue to live in this denial, you can’t start the healing process. You lived a lot of life in the six years that are wiped from your memory and it must be terrifying having a part of yourself that you don’t even know, but you will never get to know that part of yourself if you don’t believe it existed. Please Maya, give yourself a chance.”

Topanga Matthews begged, reaching for Maya’s limp hand.

_This is all made up, a work of fiction, a temporary dream_

Maya chanted as hot heavy tears pushed their way past her firmly closed eyelids.

This illusion of a world felt too much like reality. There was too much detail, too much proof.

Maya’s heart began to crack open finally understanding what this meant, when her ears detected a commotion outside.

“You have to let me in! It’s been three days for godsakes. She’s my WIFE!”

A familiar but strange voice sounded like gasoline meeting fire as it shouted with as much force as a hurricane.

“Lucas, she doesn’t know the difference between reality and fiction at this point. I don’t think she can handle a surprise husband. She’ll lose it.”

 

A calmer steadier voice that represented lemonade on a hot summer’s day responded with as much sorrow as it did strength.

“Please I just want to see her. I need to know she’s alright. Please. Let me see Maya.”

The fierce powerful voice was husky and staticky when not shouting. It was pleading with it’s soul laid out on the line.

Silence followed the voice’s request. It was so quiet Maya could hear the scuff of a nurse’s sneaker against the whitewashed tile floor.

“Fine.”  
“You can see her.”  
“Lucas,”  
“Just not too much at once okay.”

“I swear I just need to feel her presence in the same room, I just need to meet her glance once and I’ll be done for the day.”

“Okay let’s go in.”

Maya’s eyes fluttered open just in time to see the door knob turn.  
It seemed as everyone around her had lost the ability to breath, seeing as though their chests neither rise nor fall.

A faint creak cuts through the envelope of the quiet.

Zay Babineaux enters the sterilized room, face grim.

“Hey Maya Papaya.”

He whispers as though a hint of his carbon dioxide filled words could shatter her.

As he comes further through the room, it becomes clear there is a person still in the entry way.

Pointed dusty cowboy boots peek out from behind the corner. A hint of faded jeans and a tattered plaid button down hang loosely from a large silhouette.

And then the mystery man with dangerous vocal chords and unlimited gift cards to American Apparel steps out from the shadows and reveals his identity.

“You remember Lucas Friar, don’t you Maya?”

Zay asks, but Maya had dialed out the second the once Texan boy now New York City man came into view.

_The boy from the subway train. She thought_


	2. When Pigs Fly and Vampires Exist

_ Lucas Friar had come into Maya Hart’s life in a New York subway car.  _

 

_ And from the second she’d laid eyes on him, she knew for a fact that he had not be sent for her. _

 

_ The boy sitting in the subway reading an untitled book, practically had a halo hovering inches above his head. His eyes hadn’t seen enough of the dark side of life, his smile was too kind, warm and welcoming for the city. He just screamed innocence and security. _

 

_ He was too pure for Maya to have, probably for anyone to have. _

_ Well except for Riley Matthews that is.  _

 

_ That day “fate” had pushed Riley into the mysterious boy’s lap. And the universe sighed in delight as the two perfect human specimens laid eyes on one another.  _

 

_ It turned out destiny had been present in that subway car because the very same day, Subway boy walked into their classroom and took the seat right behind Riley.  _

 

_ After that day, Lucas Friar was something Riley wanted, and like always it was Maya’s job to get it for her.  _

 

_ There were white horses, failed flirting, first dances, Shakespearean plays, game nights, and first kisses to get Lucas to play the role of Riley’s prince.  _

 

_ Though along the long and winding road to Riley and Lucas’s happy ever after palooza, Maya had unintentionally let Lucas become a part of her life. _

 

_ She found his heritage entertaining and virtue annoyingly unbreakable. He was a welcome challanger for Maya to defeat, but unfortunately for Maya, Lucas Friar was one hell of a participant. _

 

_ There were harmonicas, southern accents, Huckleberry's, Ha Hurrs,  cowboy hats, roses and one very long game that neither one could win. _

 

_ And in that subway car, the same one where they’d meet him, after Riley had just kissed her forever boy, Maya realized that Lucas Friar had somehow become her friend over the past year.  _

 

_ ‘Maybe it's for the best’ Maya thought. She was going to be in Riley’s life forever and now it looked like Lucas Friar was going to be there the rest of Riley’s life as well so they might as well learn to like one another before spending a lifetime together. _

 

  
  
  
  


“Maya.”

Lucas stated. As though her name was a life raft and he was drowning.

 

He didn’t approach her. He just stood his ground and bore his eyes right into hers. 

 

While Lucas was staring intently at her, everyone in the room was very focused on her facial expression. As though they expected some magic could come from looking at Lucas Friar, and then instantly six years worth of life and memories would come flooding back into her mind. 

 

“I’m not sure I understand what’s going on here.” Maya finally wondered aloud, as the strangeness of the moment didn’t seem to end.

 

No one jumped at giving her the answer and she’s certain she saw any hope in Lucas’s eyes fade.

 

“Peaches, a lot happened in six years.”

 

Riley says with a heavy sigh.

 

“I know Riley. It’s six years. A fourth of my life. But I still don’t understand why seeing Lucas Friar is such a big thing.”

 

“No offense.”

She added, once again seeing Lucas’s face drop ten shades of happiness. 

 

“Lucas why don’t you come over here?”

 

Riley motioned.

 

The second Lucas was given the invitation, he was at her bedside in an instant.

 

“Riles please tell me what’s going on. I’m starting to get worried now. Just rip off the band aid. I can handle it.”

 

Riley nodded at Lucas once, not meeting Maya’s eyes.

 

Instead of speaking, Lucas simply grabbed her left hand and began rubbing small circles on her palm. 

 

By this point, Maya felt as though she’d gone on the tornado ride at the county fair, the world was sideways, forward and backwards all at the same time. She might as well have changed her middle name from Penelope to Confused as Hell. Maya Confused as Hell Hart. 

 

She was about to start screaming in frustration, anger and puzzlement when she notices something on the hand Lucas is still rubbing. 

 

Two gold bands. One thick and broad. The other thin and narrow. 

 

_ How had she not noticed them before? _

 

She looked from the rings to Lucas. Then from Lucas to the rings.

 

Without a word, she reached across her torso and grabbed Lucas’s left hand from his side.

 

There sitting perched on the finger that must not be named was a gold band. 

 

Maya recoiled instantly. Dropped his hand and yanked her own away from him.

 

The stars must have all fallen out of the sky, pigs must have flown, Vampires must exist, the world must’ve started spinning clockwise. 

 

Because the only thing more impossible than the existence of supernatural creatures and the aerial ability of hogs is the possibility that she Maya Confused as Hell Hart was married to Lucas Meant For Riley Friar. 

 

The thought of something so ridiculous causes a laugh to stir at the bottom of her throat. And then the utter absurdness of it all breaks through and allows the growing laugh inside her chest to bubble over the boundary of her chapped lips.

 

She can’t stop laughing. Infectious giggles turn into contagious chuckles that form into deadly gasps of silent laughter.

 

It’s only when the laughter dies and reality sets in that Maya Hart has to face  _ her husband? _

 

Lucas sits on the edge of the bed. He looks as though he’s aged twenty years since she looked at him last. In this moment she could consider how he was feeling, she’d lost six years of life, but he’d also lost his wife. She could stop and think about how her actions might make him feel. 

 

But instead Maya, pushes herself out of the bed. 

 

Looks him the eyes. 

 

And meaning it with every fiber of her being says:

 

“No”

 

Before running out of the room.

 

 

**_The year 2021 January_ **

 

_ “Hey Huckleberry Long time no do-si-do.” Maya greeted him with a quick hug. _

 

_ “Yeah we just aren’t plowing the same crop circles these days.” Lucas responded before releasing her from his embrace. _

 

_ They make their way to the small cafe table and order their respective drinks. _

 

_ “So I guess congratulations are in order? I hear Josh popped the question.” _

_ Lucas asked as Maya sipped her chai tea. _

 

_ “I wouldn’t say he proposed really. He asked me on our morning ride to work if I would ever like to get married one day. I told him I would. He suggested we get married next year. And that’s how it happened.” _

 

_ “But it's really me who should be asking you about diamond rings. You know Riley’s ready right?” _

 

_ Lucas stared down into his latte and picked at his half eaten scone. _

 

_ “I know she’s ready, sometimes I think she’s been ready since she first landed in my lap. But we’re so young and have a lot of our lives ahead of us to get married, I just don’t see the rush.” _

 

_ “The rush is that you were lucky enough to have found a Riley Matthews HeeHaw, she’s one of kind and probably the best thing that has happened to both of us. You’ve got her, now you have to lock her down or else she might find greener pastures. She’s your soulmate Lucas.” _

 

_ The rest of coffee includes conservation about college life and small talk about politics. But as soon as they pay the check, Lucas knows it’s the last time he’ll see the blond for a while.  _

 

_ He’ll miss her friendship but he knows that she’s always been Riley’s friend first, and once he goes back to the apartment tonight and breaks the brunette’s heart he’ll become public enemy number one.  _

 

_ “Bye Ranger Rick.” _

_ Maya kisses his cheek before slipping out the revolving door. _

 

_ “Bye Maya” He whispers long after she’s left.  _

  
  
  



	3. "Got it Lone Star?" "Loud and clear"

_ Lucas Friar had met Maya Hart on the subway.  _

 

_ She’d introduced herself, asked him out and broken up with him all before he could even open his mouth in confusion.  _

 

_ And from the second he’d laid eyes on her he’d known that she could never be his. _

_ Her tone was sharp from years of living in the city, her eyes held a hollow feeling as though her childhood had been stolen from them. And when she strutted away from in that subway car he swore that’d be the last time he’d ever see her again.  _

 

_ He was wrong. _

 

_ Maya Hart had either been placed in his life for the purpose of destroying it or making it a whole lot more interesting.  _

 

_ But the day Maya had come into his life so had Riley. The brunette with enough hope to fuel an unicorn’s flight to Mars. She was everything somebody should want, in a person to love.  _

 

_ And Lucas loved her, through middle school, through high school, and he loved her even after they’d broken up. His whole adolescent life had been based around the notion that Riley was the one for him. For months after he’d left her, he’d wake up in a cold sweat and wonder if he’d made the wrong choice, if he’d ruined his chance at a fairy tale. _

 

_ But the day he exchanged vows with Maya Penelope Hart, he couldn’t even imagine how a fairy tale could compare to how he felt in that moment.  _

  
  


“Hey Kid.”

Shawn Hunter mummered in greeting, passing Lucas a styrofoam cup of black coffee. 

 

Both of them hadn’t slept more than fleeting minutes in days. The wooden hospital chairs were not meant to be beds for grown men. 

 

“How is she doing?”

Were the first words out of Lucas’s mouth each time Shawn had returned from seeing her.

 

“She’s doing better, the counselor has helped her onto the road of acceptance. She’s also pretty happily surprised after finding out the that Katy and I are married.”

 

“I’m glad she’s okay with at least one part of her life.”

 

“Lucas…”

 

“I know. Trust me I know Shawn. I didn’t expect our wedding ring power to magically give her our memories back. And knowing the place Maya and I were at back in 2020, I wouldn’t even dream that she might hold any of the love we share now in her heart. I was just Riley’s boyfriend, who’d she see on holidays and birthdays.”

 

“It’s just too painful. I’m trying to be strong. But seeing her cringe away from me and look at me like I’m a stranger is too much. We promised to spend the rest of our lives together Shawn, now it feels like the lives we had before the accident are already over.”

 

Lucas sunk his head into his heads. Shawn extended a tender hand onto Lucas’s shoulder.

 

“Do you remember the day you asked me if you could have my blessing to marry her?”

 

“You walked in like you had all the confidence in the world, and when I asked you why you seemed so chipper while in this situation others might be sweating bullets, you answered that it was because you were 100% percent certain that you were the guy who was going to love her until you couldn’t breathe. That she was your soulmate. That the grin on her face every time you’d come home gave you the strength to fight an army of a million soldiers with a toothpick.”

 

“Things are very different now Lucas, there’s not use sugar coating it. But I am still 100% certain that you are the guy who is going to love Maya Hart until you can’t breathe, and maybe even beyond that.”

 

“She wants to talk, Lucas.”

 

Shawn told him with a microscopic encouraging grin. 

 

“Well why didn’t you start with that?”

 

“I wanted to give you a little bit of your confidence back.

 

“Thank you Shawn, for everything.”

 

“You’re welcome kid, now get your ass out of here,  you have your girl waiting for you.”

 

**************************************************************************************************

 

“He’s here baby. I’ll see you in a bit.”

Katy Hunter dropped a kiss to Maya’s temple before leaving her to face the person patiently waiting in the hallway. 

 

As the elder Hart now Hunter passed her son in law, she gave him a brief embrace and whispered words of luck in his ear.

 

Lucas Friar expected the worse walking into that hospital room. He was not blind to the chance that she could ask for a divorce or that she could tell him that she never wanted to see him again. But to him none of the worst possible outcomes could prevent him from seeing her.

 

To hear her heartbeat, even if it isn’t for him is a privilege in it’s own.  

 

“Well Huckleberry husband it looks like we got hitched.”

Maya Hart said in welcoming as Lucas approached her bedside.

 

“That we did.”

 

They both fall into silence as he sits down on the edge of the bed. 

 

“They didn’t tell me you were in the car until today.”

 

“I asked them not to until you were ready.”

 

“Look Lucas, I may not have the montage of our epic six year love story coursing my thoughts anymore but we were still friends from what I remember. I’m sorry that you had to go through that accident and wake up remembering it.”

 

“No amount of trauma from the accident came close to waking up and not having you anymore.”

 

“I’m sorry about that too Lucas.”

 

“You had no control of it.”

 

“I know, I’m still sorry.”

 

Maya holds out her hand, Lucas takes it.

It’s not romantic by any means but yet Maya can’t deny the way her hand slides into his, like it was meant to fit.

 

“Listen Lucas six years is a lot of life to lose and I don’t think I can ever feel complete without knowing what happened during them, so I’d like to hear about them and who better to tell me about them than the person who was there for most of them? I want to know Lucas.”

 

“But, I want you to know that I’m not in love with you right now, so this walk down memory lane isn’t going to be so I find my way back to you. It’s so I can find my way back to me. Got that Lone Star?”

 

It wasn’t perfect and it wasn’t going to fix everything, but it was a start. And that’s all that mattered.

 

“Loud and Clear. ”

  
  


**_The year 2021, August_ **

 

_ “Hey This is Lucas Friar leave a message at the beep.” _

 

_ “Uh Hi Lucas. It’s Maya. Maya Hart. I don’t know if you’ve heard um, I’m going to be staying in Austin for two weeks and could use a tour guide. Look I know I’ve given you the cold shoulder since you and Riley broke it off but she’s forgiven you and I should too. If there’s a chance you could meet up while I’m there well let me know. Uh Bye.” _

  
  


**The year 2021 August**

 

_ “I can’t believe you actually brought me here.” _ _  
_ _ Maya muttered under breath. As she stared in horror at the fairy light filled barn. _

_ Banjos and Blake Shelton. Hay bales and wooden walls. Pie tins and Beer bottles. Promenade and Allemande. _

 

_ Lucas Friar had brought her to a hoedown.  _

 

_ “You did ask me to be your tour guide. “ _

 

_ “I did. So you could guide me away from exactly this situation.” _

 

_ “Come on Maya, after all of the years of jokes and nicknames you’re really telling me, you thought I wouldn’t take you to a hoedown out of spite?” _

 

_ “Well played Ranger Roy.” _

 

_ “Again with the nicknames? I thought we’d grown out of that.” _

 

_ “I am at a  _ **_hoedown_ ** _ Lucas. I get to use all the country puns I want. Got it Lone Star?” _

 

_ “Loud and Clear.” _

_ “Good now let's get me a drink. Mamma won’t make it through this without being full out wasted.” _

 

_ The pair made their way over to the tubes full of ice and bud light, when Maya forcefully elbowed Lucas in the stomach. _

 

_ “Ow! Maya what the hell was that for?” _

 

_ “That girl is totally checking you out.” _

 

_ She nodded her head discreetly towards a lanky red head drinking a wine cooler and making googly eyes at Lucas.  _

 

_ “So?” _

 

_ Lucas replied with a shrug popping open his beer can. _

 

_ “So? When was the last time you got laid Heehaw?” _

 

_ “What Maya no! You can’t ask me stuff like that.” _

 

_ “That long huh? Okay fine you’ve convinced me I’ll play wing woman for you.” _

 

_ “First of all, I never asked you to ‘play wing woman for me’. Second of all, seven months is not that long. And third of all, I used to date your best friend this is fucking weird.” _

 

_ Maya grabbed the beer out of his hands before rolling her eyes. _

 

_ “Look Lucas, I haven’t exactly been a good friend to you these past seven months. Let me make it up to you.” _

 

_ Before he could strongly refuse. Maya sauntered off her New York city curves swaying. _

 

_ She’d cornered the ginger and proceeded to strike up a conversation. While Lucas stood there like a potato wondering what he should do with his hands. _

 

_ No more than five minutes later the red head girl whose name turned out to be ‘Olivia’ was practically purring in his lap.  _

 

_ Maya had given him a thumbs up before she’d run after an elderly woman who held the recipe to the perfect rhubarb pie.  _

_ By the time the tourists cleared out and the true party started for the locals, Lucas’s dry spell had ended and he’d scored a phone number. _

 

_ He could have gone home with her, but then thought that he didn’t want to be that kind of tour guide/friend.  _

 

_ He found Maya nursing a wine cooler and eating a pie with her fingers. _

 

_ “You score Friar?” _

 

_ She asked with a raised eyebrow. _

_ He simply nodded once before taking the wine cooler out of her hand and disposing it in the trash. _

 

_ She made a pouty face before settling back on the pie. _

 

_ “I must say you make one hell of a wing woman Hart. I have to ask, what did you say to her?” _

 

_ “Oh I just let it slip that you held the record for riding tombstone the bull. Bullriders are like catnip to southern belles.” _

 

_ “Well thank you. And to show you my gratitude. I believe I owe you a dance.” _

 

_ Maya stopped smacking on her cherry coated fingers to stare at him. _

 

_ “And what makes you think that I’d ever dance with you?” _

 

_ “You’re drunk.” _

 

_ Maya snorted. _

 

_ “True.” _

_ She replied shakily getting to her feet.  _

 

_ Some Hunter Hayes melody started thumping as Lucas set Maya’s small feet on top of his. With the start of the chorus he began to twirl them around the room. Both of them laughing hysterically as they constantly bumped into other dancers and inanimate objects. _

 

_ By the end of the song they were both breathless and drunk on smiling.  _

 

_ Maya took a handful of his shirt and pulled him close. She let out an alcohol scented chuckle before promptly licking him on the nose. _

 

_ “Now that was good tour guiding Huckleberry.” _


	4. A Little Place in Brooklyn

She sits across from him, holding a cup of tea between her hands not taking a single sip, just letting the warmth secrete through her fingertips. 

 

The silence lingers between them, his eyes on her, her eyes on anything but him. Even before they were friends they never let a single word go unsaid between them, this was strange for them besides the other glaringly obvious reason. 

 

Finally, she’s had enough, as much she doesn’t let it show she’s dying to know about everything she’d forgotten. He holds the answers, she just needs to remember that her lips form words, not frowns.

 

“I can’t believe I agreed to live in Brooklyn”

 

His eyes flicker up to meets her’s in a moment of surprise before the words register in his ears. He chuckles. 

 

“Wanna know why?” 

 

_ Yes desperately.  _

“Sure why not.”

 

( _ Year 2025) _

 

_ “I am a Manhattan girl born and raised Friar. No way in hell I’m moving across the bridge into some other burrow. I’d rather be a dead girl in Manhattan than a living one in Brooklyn”  _

 

_ Maya shouts across the apartment as she packs her suitcase. Lucas Friar mozys over to the short-tempered and statured Maya before wrapping his arms around her small frame.  _

 

_ “No! No! No! Not this time Friar, you can’t snuggle a ‘Yes’ out of me, I am a powerful 21st-century woman who will not be swayed by delicious biceps and a sultry accent.” _

 

_ “What if I did this?” _

 

_ He asks taking a playful nip at her neck. Her legs turn to jelly in seconds.  _

 

_ “Yes to the sex we’re about to have but NO to Brooklyn.”  She growled as she wrapped her legs around his waist and pushed herself onto the countertop with grace.  _

 

_ * _

_ Hours later they’re lying in bed, Lucas twirling strands of Maya’s hair with his calloused fingers. He turns to face her. _

_ “ _ _ Maya. Move to Brooklyn with me _ _.”  _

_ She sighs and flips onto her side to match his gaze. _

 

_ “I want to start our lives together. You know that I love you in a way that I’ve never felt about anyone and I want our relationship to continue to grow and evolve as we do. I want us to live together. I want to have our carpets be paint stained by your artistic epiphanies at 2 am. I want to have little arguments over whose turn it is to wash the cereal bowls. I want to wake up every morning and know that you’ll be snoring, practically on top of me, with pieces of hair stuck to the corners of your lips.” _

 

_ “You know that with veterinary school bills that I can’t afford Manhattan, and I know that you love it here. I love it here. It’s where I met you. It’s where I fell in love with you. But, if we want to move in with each other it can’t be here.” _

 

_ Maya stares into his eyes without blinking. Her head is holding onto the past with clenched fists; change its sworn enemy. But, her heart belongs to him, over the years they’ve known each other there’s been a dull ache for him that had been growing, growing, growing. Everything about how she felt about him scared her yet she could never imagine pushing him away even if it would spare her the cognitive dissonance.  _

 

_ She interlaces their fingers in the crevice between their bodies.  _

 

_ “I have one other thing that I think might help.” He whispers into her hair.  _

 

_ “And what is that?” _

 

_ “I found Nell Choate Jones’ house and it’s for sale.” _

 

*

(Present)

 

“What!” Maya exclaimed.

  
“You mean to tell me, that right now we’re living in  _ her _ house. As in Nell Choate Jones the influential female artist who was literally my inspiration to go into painting.” 

 

“Yes. It’s technically ours now, but it did belong to her once upon a time.”

 

“Lucas...” She faltered.

 

“This is amazing.” 

He smiled fondly as he walked her around, pointing out various secrets she had discovered about the house through her research of Nell Jones. His dimples growing wider as the excitement radiated off of her with a powerful energy.

 

That night over boxes of Chinese food Maya pointed her chopsticks at him.

 

“Thank you for today. You know hearing that I only moved to Brooklyn because I could live in my favorite artist’s house instead of being motivated by your super romantic speech, made me feel like the Maya I was over these last six years is someone who I would recognize.” 

 

“I was hoping you’d like that story,” Lucas said trying and failing to pick up a potsticker.

 

“You are still such a Huckleberry all even after all of these years.” 

 

She giggles, looking at him with a fondness that had bubbled up in her after remembering that as much as Lucas her husband was a stranger, he was still Lucas the Huckleberry who she had known for most of her life as a close friend. 

 

But, then the laughter drifts off when she realizes what she wants to ask and she knows it will undo all that they’d built that day because as much as she loved Lucas as a friend the memories she had remaining told her that Josh was the one she was in love with romantically.

 

“Lucas, what happened between Josh and me?” 

 

*

( _ Year 2022) _

 

_ “I think I’m finally ready to admit that I’m not happy.”  _

 

_ She says with a tone that makes it seem as though she’s trying to get familiar with those words leaving her tongue.  _

 

_ The two of them are sitting on his fire escape, it’s winter in Manhattan but they’ve been out here for hours; passing a lukewarm thermos of hot chocolate between their gloved hands.  _

 

_ “What no I told you so? No, I’ve known this for months now Maya and so have you.” _

 

_ He sighs at her words.  _

 

_ “I didn’t want to be right about your unhappiness Maya. All I’ve ever wanted for you is joy, you don’t know how much it breaks my heart to hear that you’ve been suffering.”  _

 

_ She adjusts herself so that she can rest her head on his broad shoulder. For a moment all they do is watch the snow fall onto the empty street.  _

 

_ “I wanted it to be a fairytale so bad. You know? My entire life leading up to Josh was an overwhelming disappointment but, when I found that he felt the same way about me that I did about him things looked as though they might turn out okay. He was a Matthews. I wanted to be a Matthews my entire life. Growing up looking at the life Riley had: two loving parents who loved her unconditionally, a nice big house with separate bedrooms for every member of the family, food pouring out of every cupboard, and money resting happily in every wallet, it made me so envious I could barely breathe. Josh was my ticket into that life that I had always been wishing for since the day I learned how to pray.” _

 

_ “It turns out I loved the idea of Josh and not actually him as a person. His humor was cruel where I wanted kind. He wanted date nights at a loud crowded bar when I wanted to burrow into the couch and watch old French movies that neither of us could understand. And I know that it sounds silly, that couples don’t have to want the same things all the time. But, Josh proposed and it felt as though I would be stuck for the rest of my life wondering if me the girl who came from nothing deserved better than the boy who came from everything.”  _

 

_ Lucas turns his head to press a warm kiss to Maya’s forehead.  _

 

_ “You do deserve it, Maya. You deserve a true, deep, passionate, love. You, Maya Hart, deserve the world and a great love along with it. Never settle for anything. You hear me? You have earned the right to only allow what’s best for yourself into your heart.”  _

 

_ With that Maya lets Lucas guide her back into the apartment, his hand her compass. She lets him wrap her in thick blankets and lets him sit by her side until her eyes can’t flutter open anymore. _

 

_ And just as she’s about to lose consciousness, her mind holds onto the fleeting thought; this is the kind of love she deserves.  _


	5. Life's a Picnic

“So peaches, how’s it going?”

 

Riley asks folding her legs next to Maya’s on the small couch. 

 

“Better than expected but, Lucas still looks at me with these longing glances everytime I turn around.” 

 

“The boy can’t exactly fall out of love with you on command Maya.”

 

“I know that. God, I know that. But I can’t exactly fall back in love with him on command either.”

 

“No one is thinking with that mindset. We all want you to take your time re-learning yourself, and hey if it comes down to it and Lucas isn’t the person you want to be with, we can handle that too.” 

 

The brunette says, rubbing soothing circles around the blonde’s palm. 

 

“Riley, your opinion matters more to me than anything else in the universe, I want to know what you thought of the two of us together. What was I like with him? Did we work?”

 

For the first time since Maya had woken up in the hospital, Riley gives her a genuine smile, one that doesn’t have any pity or sadness written into her dimples. 

 

“You two were something else.” 

 

Riley says wistfully. 

 

*

( _ Year 2025)  _

 

_ “How’d you get so good at this?”  _

 

_ Riley squealed as she looked at her reflection on the screen of her phone. Her hair was woven into two tight Dutch braids that ran down her spine like thick rope, throughout the weave delicate purple flowers were gently knotted into her stray wisps.  _

 

_ “I watched a lot of Youtube tutorials.” _

 

_ Lucas shrugged nonchalantly.  _

 

_ “Maya always is touching up her paintings before a gallery opening so she never has time to get ready. I learned how to do her hair so that I could help her get ready and out the door in time.”  _

 

_ “I heard my name. You talking trash ‘bout me Friar.” _

_ Maya Hart plops next to the two on the flannel picnic blanket, ice cream cones in her hands.  _

__

_ “Always.”  _

__

_ Lucas says leaning in and playfully kissing her cheeks, forehead, and nose before planting his lips on hers.  _

__

_ Lucas slings his arm around Maya as she relaxes into his chest.  _

__

_ “Not that I don’t love a spontaneous summer picnic in Central Park, which I totally do, but, is there any alternative motive I should know about.”  _

__

_ Riley asks between licks of her ice cream.  _

__

_ Maya looks up at Lucas to give him a reassuring smile before taking her best friend’s hand.  _

__

_ “Honey, Lucas and I got engaged last night.”  _

__

_ Looking back on this moment Lucas would recall that all of the birds in Central Park fled their perches at the sound of Riley’s scream.  _

__

_ “OHHH MY JESUS, MARY, AND JOSEPHINE. YAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” _

__

_ Maya felt Lucas’ chest rumble against her skin with a hearty chuckle.  _

__

_ Once Riley has settled down, Maya dips her hand into her purse and delicately slides her engagement ring onto her finger.  _

__

_ When Riley notices the ring, it feels as though Maya’s arm is pulled out of its socket in an attempt for Riley to pull the ring as close to her face as possible.  _

__

_ “Peaches its perfect.” She swoons.  _

__

_ Maya hummed pleasantly in response and took an intimate moment to admire the ring herself.  _

__

_ After Riley’s exuberant reaction, Maya could finally let herself accept the fact that she was actually going to marry Lucas. After the fear and reluctance, she had felt after Josh’s proposal, she had worried that a similar feeling would return once she and Lucas had reached that stage. But, sitting there with his heartbeat thumping steadily against her chest, she felt anything but afraid. For one of the first time in Maya Hart’s life, she felt inescapably joyous; she felt as though she had truly found a home for her heart.  _

__   
  
  


_ * _

_ Maya Penelope Hart and Lucas Eugene Friar I am going to kill you!”  _

 

_ Riley screeches when she finds them.  _

 

_ It’s the night of their engagement party and instead of laying out table settings or dusting the window sills Lucas and Maya are getting handsy in the Matthews’ coat closet.  _

 

_ “I swear its like you two are a bunch of horny teenagers who have just discovered sex! The guests are arriving in twenty minutes and you’ve gone and stained Lucas’s shirt collar with your lipstick Maya! I thought to myself ‘Riley, you should host the most important party in the world for your two best friends as a celebration of their love,’ but, of course, I should have remembered that I was only put in charge of planning this because you two are a bunch of three-year-olds who can’t handle responsibility.”  _

 

_ The brunette lets out one final huff of disapproval before swinging the closet door shut with a thud and storming off to let the caterer know that the appetizers would be needed as a distraction from the missing guests of honor sooner rather than later.  _

 

_ * _

“At first I was hurt, I wanted what my parents have. But, Maya when I saw how good you guys were together it all went away.”

 

Riley continues, 

 

“Peaches you two challenged each other in the best ways possible and you guys were the family that neither of you had growing up. You were so in love with him and you trusted him with your heart so much that you didn’t have to hide it.”

 

“Was I the same Maya Hart that you grew up with?”

 

“Do you think that I’d be sitting here today endorsing a relationship that took away my best friend? Yes, Maya, you were the same badass bestie that climbed through my window unannounced when you were with him.”

 

“I think I need to talk to him about where we’re going.”

 

Riley once again flashes an authentic smile.

 

“I’ll be here with ice cream when you get back.”

 

*

When Maya returns home, instead of finding Lucas, she finds a note left on the marble countertop. 

_ Maya, I had to run out because a dalmation had complications during the delivery of her pups. I’m sorry I can’t be there but, I promise to bring home Chinese food to make it up to you. Also, I left the keys to your art gallery on this paper. I thought seeing some of your pieces might help you see where you were inspiration wise before the accident. The gallery is about three blocks west. I have a feeling you’ll know when you see it.  _

 

 

  * __Cowboy__



 

 

Maya’s heart clenched at the nickname. Maybe they truly were the people they had always been. But, instead of staying around to analyze what it all means, Maya snatches up the keys to her gallery and fleas out the front door. 

 

She’s starting to think she’ll never find it when a glowing sign appears out of the corner of her eye. 

 

**A Mending Hart.**

 

Lucas’s words ring in her ears as she slides the key into the lock: ‘you’ll know when you see it.’

 

The gallery is everything she had ever imagined it would be. Growing up drawing models of a gallery of her own on the back of the menu at her mom’s restaurant, this was the place she had always concocted in her head.  

 

She spends hours making her way through every single piece. Her hands mimicking the brush strokes she had done to get just the right texture. 

 

When she finally makes her way to the very last painting, her breath catches in her throat. 

 

There hanging on the back wall is a portrait of her and Lucas. She manages to reach the inscription on the wall beside it even though it feels as if her legs were made of jello. 

 

It reads _ Happy Anniversary Huckleberry! One year down, a lifetime full of bickering to go. In celebration of our union, I decided to paint the moment that I first felt ‘it.’ I love you more. -Shortstack  _

 

Below the paragraph lies the date that she had finished it; a day before the accident. 

 

But, what makes Maya’s blood run cold is that the memory she painted is actually one that she remembers. 

 

*

_ (Year 2017) _

 

_ “I’m so screwed!”  _

_ Maya exclaims as she and Lucas find their seats on the subway.  _

 

_ “Colleges are never going to want me. That entire seminar went on and on about grades and extracurriculars. Newsflash, my grades suck and my only extracurricular is sitting in the bay window for hours on end.”  _

 

_ She buries her head in her hands.  _

 

_ “I’m going nowhere.” _

 

_ “What about art school?” _

 

_ Lucas suggests casually.  _

 

_ “As if. Lucas, people have to be crazy talented to even apply to art school. I’d have to have a portfolio and recommendation letters.” _

 

_ “Well, I think you’re crazy talented. I know that you have hundreds of pieces lying around that could make up one very badass portfolio. I also know that Ms. Strong adores you and would crawl over broken glass at the opportunity to help you.” _

 

_ Maya lifts her head an inch, just enough so that Lucas can now see her soulful blue eyes.  _

 

_ “Even with all of that they have to pick me out of thousands. I’m not going to be special enough to be chosen.” _

 

_ “I’d choose you.” _

 

_ Maya sits all the way up.  _

 

_ “That’s kind Lucas but you don’t mean it.” _

 

_ “I do 100%. I’d choose you above anyone else. You are one of a kind Maya Hart and anyone can see it.” _

 

_ “Over Farkle with the perfect grades and internships in the cancer lab?” _ __   
  


_ Lucas nods. _

 

_ “Over Farkle.” _

 

_ “Over Riley who’s a member of every club every created on campus and who literally wrote a one-woman show in two weeks.” _

_ His head bounces again.  _

__

_ “Over Riley.” _

__

_ “Maya, when are you going to learn? You’re my favorite.” _

__

_ Her heart skips a beat.  _

__

_ “What?” _

__

_ “Maya, I’ve always admired you. From the second we first met I was overwhelmed by how amazing of a person you are. You care and protect every person you love. You stand on street corners and yell out whatever is on your mind. You don’t stand down in the face of a challenge. You’re kind of my role model.” _

__

_ She didn’t realize she had been holding her breath until he finishes.  _

__

_ “I’ve never been anybody’s favorite.” _

__

_ She confesses.  _

__

_ “Well, you’re mine Maya Hart. Deal with it.” _

__

_ Long after Lucas had got off at his stop, her heart still continued to flutter. A girl who had been left again and again and had only been loved with broken hearts was someone’s first choice. Lucas Friar had given her a gift that was priceless and that no one could ever replace.  _

__

_ In that subway car, 17-year-old Maya Hart felt something she hadn’t felt before about Lucas, something she hadn't felt about anyone. At that moment she was overwhelmed by how much she was willing to admit that he might be her favorite too.  _

__   
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


  
  
  
  



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